


Parole Officer

by SumDumMuffin



Category: RWBY
Genre: Age Difference, F/F, Modern AU, Walk Into A Bar, police officer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-17
Updated: 2015-09-17
Packaged: 2018-04-21 04:31:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4815131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SumDumMuffin/pseuds/SumDumMuffin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern AU where Ruby is the youngest cop in her town's history and is also Torchwick's Parole officer. Ruby and Torchwick meet at a bar where Torchwick introduces her to an attractive older singer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Parole Officer

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any of these characters. RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum, may he rest in peace. 
> 
> I guarantee no expertise in or even basic knowledge of parole laws, the process of becoming a police officer, alcoholic beverages, romance, or the English language. 
> 
> I really like the idea of Ruby and Torchwick being friends outside of the whole trying-to-kill-each-other gig, sort of like Mario and Bowser.
> 
> EDIT: fixed some copy-paste snafus.

A young girl in a long red cape walked into a bar. The smell of old wood and cheap liquor assaulted her nose, but she couldn't mind that now. She only hesitated a moment before she took a step inside.

A man with orange hair and a fabulous white coat and bowler hat waved her down. Ruby took a seat next to him at the counter.

“Hey there, Little Red,” said the man.

“Yo Roman,” replied Ruby.

The man leaned over to the bartender. “A tall glass of milk for the lady, if you'd please,” said the man.

“Milk?” replied the bartender. He looked to be in his twenty's, with a short beard growing over his chin with short black hair cut to the same length. He was washing some glasses with a rag of questionable cleanliness.

“Oh, hey!” chirped Ruby, “I know you! Junior, right?”

The bartender looked uneasy. “Have we met?”

“Nope! But I think you know my sister, Yang. She's mentioned you.”

Junior paled. “Yang's your sister?”

“Yep!” Ruby smiled her most innocent smile.

Junior went behind a door and came back with a glass of milk. “On he house,” he said as he placed it in front of the girl.

“Awesome!” Ruby nursed her glass of milk, giving herself a milk mustache in the process.

“Huh. I didn't know Yang was your sister.” said Roman.

“I never mentioned it? I definitely talked about her.”

“I remember you mentioned a sister,” he said. “Didn't piece it together fully, though. Yang, huh? That explains a lot.”

"Yep. She's kind of a mess though."

Torchwook put his hands up. "Hey, wasn't gonna say nothing."  

“Well." Ruby wiped her milk mustache on her sleeve. "Now to business!” Ruby procured a small writing pad, an official form attached to the tip.  “Have you commuted any crimes these past two weeks?” 

“I have not.”

“Have you left the province during that time?”

“Been in town the whole while.”

“Have you peen in possession of any illegal substances during that time?”

“Not unless Pumkin Pete's Marshmellow Flake's have been banned for their abysmal nutritional value.”

Ruby snorted. 'I don't know, they've the only cereal I've known to cause sugar comas.”

Torchwick laughed. "Speaking from experience?"

Ruby stuck out her tongue. “Are you in possession or control of any firearm or deadly weapon?”

Torchwick eyed his cane. Ruby noticed the meaningful glance.

“I'll mark that as a 'no',” she said, winking.

“Wonderful.”

“Aaaand lastly, have you found gainful employment?”

“Ah, um,” said Torchwick to the wall. “Not as such.”

Ruby grimaced. “You know you need to find a job by next checkup or I'll have to report it? I can only do so much.”

“Yeah,” Torchwick sighed, ",'And I appreciate it. But you know how it is. No one wants to hire a criminal to handle their merchandise and having a record automatically disqualifies you from a lot of jobs."

Ruby recalled a certain cat-faunus she was friends with. “Yeah, I know how that is. But there should be lots of places that'd take you. And the Schnee company's always hiring.”

“The Schnee company aside, most of the people I know working at those places don't make enough to prevent them from resorting back to crime. And the Schnee company never struck me as 'good guy' employment."

“Yeah, yeah, we all know what they've been up to.” Ruby looked into her cup. Weiss was alright (or so she thought) but her family's company had a horrible track record when it came to labor rights, adherence to federal product standards, and accurately reporting earnings to the tax collectors. “But you're going to need a job somewhere.”

“I know,” stated Torchwick, gesticulating theatrically, “And I'll definitely apply to be a Schnee lackey next week if I don't find anything else. But I'm still holding out on something that suits me more, ya get what I'm saying?"

“Well, I can ask Yang if she's looking for a partner. P.I. work's good these days.”

“With all due respect, little red,” said Torchwick, “But I've got my butt handed to me enough by teenage girls to really feel comfortable working with your sister."

Ruby pondered a bit. “Or,” she said in a hushed voice. Torchwick leaned in to hear her better. “I'm sure I can arrange something with the department if you're willing to keep us informed about the activities of your former professional colleagues.”

Torchwick glanced over to Junior who was, thankfully, engrossed in a conversation with another customer. “I might, actually,” he whispered back.

"I can send you some details later. No obligation."

Torchwick nodded.

“And that's all!” Ruby put away the pencil and pad. “So, barring the unemployment, how've you been?”

“Pretty great, all things considered,” Torchwick began. 

And the two unlikely friends regaled each other of the ongoing of their lives. They shared a few laughs and a few good-natured ribbings in at the bar counter top. Torchwick told Ruby about his attempt to pawn off one of his spare canes, and Ruby told Torchwick about all the hazing rituals they put new cops through.

And then the entertainment started. An older woman, with charcoal hair and burning amber eyes and a red sparkly dress too elegant for a bar such as this brought a guitar up on the meager corner stage and began singing and strumming. An old folk lullaby, something people might half-remember from the mists of childhood.

Ruby stopped in the middle of her anecdote about chocolate milk after the bar lights flickered twice and then settled dim, and Junior announced the singer for the night. Ruby turned leaning forward, nearly falling off her chair as she did. 

Torchwick turned too, after the singer started a jazzy lamentation about dealing with loss. His eyes widened for a moment when he saw who it was, and he leaned back to enjoy the show. 

The first song finished. “Wow,” whispered Ruby as she started clapping. She stopped when she realized she was the only one doing so.

The woman noticed and flashed a sultry smile to her. Ruby blushed and sunk into her shoulders.

“Yeah, Cinder can sing, can't she?"

“Wait, you know her?!” Ruby turned and grabbed the collar of Torchwick's coat. “You have to introduce me!”

“What? No, she's _way_ to old for you. She could probably be your mother.”

Ruby's eyes sparkled. “Do you really think so? My mom used to sing that song to me at night, before she,” Ruby put on her practiced puppy-dog eyes, “before she left. Forever.”

Torchwick glanced sideways. A sweatdrop formed on his brow. Then he sighed.  “Well, no, but I thought you were over your abandonment issues.”

Ruby let go of his coat and chuckled. 'I'm just messing with you," she lied. She swirled her cup of milk, now almost empty. “But seriously, can you set me up or not?”

Torchwick stretched his rough and cogitated. Cinder was a compatriot from his, ah, older profession. A profession he had to retire from shortly after encountering Ruby for the first time. A profession he half-hoped he'd never have to get back into, and one he  _definitely_ shouldn't let Ruby get into. 

“I'll give you an extra two weeks on your employmet deadline," offered Ruby. 

Torchwick chuckled. “Isn't that against the rules?”

Ruby bit her lip. “Technically, but, ummm. I can probably bend them a bit. For the right reasons.” She looked at the singer, who was now in the middle of another song. A somber ditty, alternating each line of lyrics with a guitar set.

Torchwick chuckled again. “Forget the extension,” he leaned in to Ruby's ear, “Just talk to your CO about the snitch position,”

Not that he'd be the only one getting involved with criminals now. Maybe Cinder'd just politely turn Ruby down, and that'd be the end of it. 

Ruby giggled a thank-you and downed her second glass of milk.

Cinder sang three more songs, each as beautiful as the first, and Ruby was anxious the entire set. She was sure she'd have jelly-legs if she weren't sitting down.

Torchwick waved her over after her set and Cinder sauntered over. Ruby blushed and put her hands in her lap, suddenly finding the countertop really interesting.

“Cinder!” he exclaimed, “How good to see you here tonight. You're looking lovely as always." 

“Torchwick, always a _pleasure,_ ” said Cinder. Her voice was just as luscious when she spoke as when she sang. Torchwick short a meaningful glass at Ruby, which Cinder picked up on. 

“Who's your friend?" said the older woman. "I saw her blush at me. So cute.”

“Ahahaha,” said Ruby.

“Cinder, this is Ruby Rose,” said Torchwick with an elaborate flourish of his hand. 

“Ruby, huh?” began Cinder, pursing her lips “What's a darling little jewel like yourself doing here?"

Ruby opened and closed her mouth a couple times. Torchwick sighed. 

“She's my, ah, parole officer.”

Cinder raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Is that so?” she put a hand out to Ruby who blushed profusely as she shook it.

“I liked your singing,” squeaked Ruby.

“Yeah, Ruby here says you remind her of her moth-oof!” Ruby elbowed Torchwick in the gut.

“Ahahaha,” she laughed nervously, “I, uh, _really_ liked your singing.” Ruby facepalmed.

Cinder gave a friendly bemused smile; the kind one would give a puppy that just tripped over itself. 'Thank you,” she said. “

“So, um, can I buy you a drink, ma'am?” squeaked Ruby.

Cinder's eyebrows's raised in happy amusement when Ruby called her ma'am,

“You can't order alcohol for another five months,” stated Torchwick.

“Shhhh-” Ruby frantically grabbed Torchwick's shoulder. She leaned her head in and Torchwick did the same.

“Can you buy me a drink to give to Cinder?”

“Willingly supplying alchohol to a minor would be against the terms of my parole," recited Torchwick. 

“Aww, c'mon! I won't tell! And besides, it's not for me, so it's not like you're endangering a minor or anything."

“She hasn't said yes yet,” chided Torchwick, “You don't know what she wants." 

Ruby stuck her head out of the impromptu huddle. “Uhh, what kind of drink would you like?" She said to the singer. Ruby then sunk into the folds of her cape and her voice became progressively more quieter. "  That- that is, if you want. You don't have to accept. It's ok, I won't take it personally.”

Cinder chuckled, but not maliciously. “Why not? I'm partial to Bloody Mary's myself.” She took a seat to the left of Ruby and feigned ignorance of the two's corroboration. To her it was all delightfully amusing.

Ruby hunched back into the huddle and gave Torchwick the best puppy-dog eyes she could. Torchwick sighed, and held out a palm. Ruby handed him a couple bills.

“Bartender, one Bloody Mary please,” he said, suppressing a smirk.

Junior poured the drink. Ruby exchanged an awkward glance and laugh with Cinder,  who covered her mouth and chuckled.

The bartender put the drink down in front of Torchwick but kept his hand around the glass. Torchwick handed Ruby's money to the bartender. He took the money and passed the drink to Torchwick, who absently slid the glass to his left. Ruby grabbed the glass with both hands sheepishly blushed as she passed it to Cinder, who covered her smile with the tip of her hand as she took the drink. 

"So you're a copper, huh?" Cinder said after her fist sip, "You look pretty young." 

“Yeah, youngest graduate in department history” Ruby squeaked, hoping she sounded impressive but also hoping she wasn't bragging.

Cinder didn't seem to think so, though, and they had a nice conversation. Ruby gradually gained more confidence as she revealed more about herself (With some help from her impromptu wingman), and Cinder was really engaging and interesting and sometimes Ruby thought she'd go deaf with the pounding of her heart in her ears. 

And Cinder checked her watch and frowned and said she had to go. But before she did she handed Ruby a slip of paper wither her number on it. Ruby stared wide-eyed at it, almost missing the kiss Cinder blew her as the older woman left the bar.

“I think she likes you," stated Torchwick, hiding his smirk with a sip of his drink.

“Ahah, really?” squaked Ruby. A smile grew on her face. 

 


End file.
